A software input panel (SIP) is a graphically rendered image of a keyboard and is widely used today as the primary interface for inputting text on a variety of mobile devices, such as mobile phones. A layout of a SIP may vary depending on location, input language, and the like. For instance, a traditional 12-key SIP may be utilized to display the western alphabet (A-Z) on a mobile device. Some languages, though, have additional letters, symbols, and the like, such that arranging all of the components onto the SIP is difficult.
In a traditional Chinese market, the mainstream SIP uses a symbol set called Bopomofo, which includes forty-two (42) basic symbols. Since there are many more symbols to associate with a key, the design of the SIP to input Bopomofo, or any other language with a large number of symbols, is difficult. The resulting SIP usually fails to accommodate a reasonable sized key for so many symbols due reducing key size to accommodate the screen size of a mobile device. With a reduced size, a user has difficulty finding and accurately selecting a specific key.
Another typical SIP display simply separates tone keys (i.e., keys that are associated with one or more tone markers of a language) from the SIP so that other keys have more room and may be larger. This results in decreased user interface consistency and an increase in a user's cognitive load.